Highlanders withstand Hurricane-force attack
By Brent Edwards

Taine Randell was one of the few players to maintain his standard and composure as the Otago Highlanders scored a flattering 35-19 win over the Wellington Hurricanes at Carisbrook on Saturday.

Randell's towering personal form was in stark contrast to an often bizarre match plagued by indiscipline and basic mistakes. It should have been a showpiece of Super 12 rugby. Instead, the biggest favour referee Paddy O'Brien could have done would have been to have blown his final whistle at half-time and sent us all to the beach. The most extraordinary thing about this game was that on March 11 - well before the rugby season used to begin - the players of both sides looked tired and stale. There was little satisfaction, only relief; the Highlanders had gained the maximum points and head the table after three rounds. Highlanders coach Peter Sloane described the five points as "brilliant" but added tellingly: "It's the only time I'll use brilliant about this match." "It was pretty ordinary all-round, really. I think there were a lot of tired players in both sides. We've been smacking away against each other for a while, and it showed."

There was a lot of niggle and tension, heightened when Tana Umaga was sent off after 25 minutes for a left-arm neck-high tackle on Romi Ropati with the latter 15m away from an otherwise clear run to the line. That meant double trouble for the Hurricanes for, as well as being reduced to 14 men for the last 55 minutes, they also conceded a penalty try. But the Highlanders, ahead 14-7 and with one more player on the field, were unable to nail the Hurricanes and achieve an emphatic victory. Indeed, the Hurricanes scored the next two tries after Umaga's dismissal and it was the Highlanders who seemed the more dazed by the whole business. They lacked concerted grunt in the forwards, fluency in the backs and the ruthlessness to put away their under-strength opponents. All except Randell, who maintained his workrate in the warm sun, made three searing breaks through the defence - the support play lacked urgency on each occasion - and led from the front throughout.

The Highlanders were upset by the swarming midfield defence, and the Hurricanes cunningly slowed down their possession from rucks and mauls. The Highlanders were too often knocked over behind the advantage line and generally strayed from the basics coach Peter Sloane had drummed into them at practice. There were other oddities about this match. Jeff Wilson played the last 28 minutes at first five-eighth when Tony Brown was injured and Brendan Laney went into halfback when Byron Kelleher was sin-binned. O'Brien called on the television official, Colin Hawke, three times, awarding two tries but adjudicating against Brad Fleming - he did not force the ball properly - for a possible try which would have given him his hat trick. Fleming, the replacement for Jonah Lomu, displayed blistering pace to score two tries and, had he forced for the third, the Highlanders could have been in real strife. It would have given the Hurricanes a deserved bonus point, the lead and maybe even the inspiration to hold on for a shock victory against the odds.

Brown scored his try after 20 minutes from a John Blaikie line-out drive; the penalty try gave the Highlanders the lead for the first time; Kelvin Middleton scored his after a line-out drive initiated by Randell; and Pita Alatini scored the last after Ropati came in on the cut and Simon Maling toed the loose ball into the Rose Stand corner. But, other than the five points, this match proved little for the Highlanders. They looked lethargic, in backs and forwards, and their concentration levels seemed to fall away after Umaga's exit. Fleming scored his first try from a ricochet from an Alama Ieremia grubber-kick; his second when he outflanked the Highlanders defence with sheer speed; and David Holwell scored the other when Jason O'Halloran and Ieremia opened up some sloppy defence down the blindside. "We've come down here and worked hard for nothing," Hurricanes captain Norm Hewitt said later. It was almost, but not quite possible to feel sorry for him. In the final analysis, the Hurricanes lost through their own poor discipline.

Match statistics: Line-outs, Highlanders, 18-17; rucks and mauls, Highlanders, 68-48; penalties, Otago, 13-10; territory, Highlanders, 57%; possession, Highlanders, 60%. Kicking: Brown, 5-5; Laney, 1-2; Holwell, 1-3; Lilley, 1-1. Half-time: Highlanders, 23-12. Crowd: 25,000. Referee: Paddy O'Brien (Southland).